Today's mystery bird comes to us through another mystery bird contributor, Paul Handford, who pointed out professional photographer Nick Anathas's collection of stunning tropical bird images. Normally, I expect that professional photographers will not provide permission to me to use their photographs as mystery birds for obvious reasons, but Nick's photographs are so wonderful and he covers so many parts of the world that I care deeply about that I wrote to him anyway. Nick replied quickly and generously provided blanket permission to me to share any of his images with you! Since I don't get to share many photographs of South American birds with you, I am starting with a species from Ecuador, a rare species that was thought to be one of their few endemics until a tiny population was discovered in nearby Peru. Can you name this gorgeous mystery bird species?

About the Daily Mystery Bird:

The Rules:

1. Keep in mind that people live in 24 different time zones, and some people are following on their iPhones. So let everyone play the game. Don't spoil it for everyone else by identifying the bird in the first 24 to 36 hours.2. If you know the bird's identity, provide subtle hints to let others know that you know. Your hints may be helpful as small clues to less experienced players. 3. Describe the key field marks that distinguish this species from any similar ones.4. Comments that spoil others' enjoyment may be deleted.

The Game:

1. This is meant to be a learning experience where together we learn a few things about birds and about the process of identifying them (and maybe about ourselves, too).2. Each mystery bird is usually accompanied by a question or two. These questions can be useful for identifying the pictured species, but may instead be used to illustrate an interesting aspect of avian biology, behaviour or evolution, or may be intended to generate conversation on other topics, such as conservation or ethics. 3. Thoughtful comments will add to everyone's enjoyment, and will keep the suspense going until the next teaser is published. Interesting snippets may add to the knowledge of all.4. Each bird species will be demystified approximately 48 hours after publication.